The present invention relates to a method for operating an operator control device for a motor vehicle. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an operator control device for a motor vehicle.
Appropriate operator control devices are provided for operating functional devices of a motor vehicle. Said operator control devices can comprise a rotary actuator or rotary encoder. Contemporary rotary actuators have mechanical latching positions in which they latch along their rotational direction. These latching positions are perceived haptically by the user or by the operator. Such rotary manual actuators have been in use millions of times for years and are employed, for example, as volume adjusters, in air conditioning operator control components or in a central input unit in a motor vehicle. The rotary actuators usually have appropriate coding elements which can be detected with a sensor. The coding elements can comprise one or more magnets which are detected with a Hall sensor. Furthermore, the coding elements can be formed by electrical contacts which are contacted by slip contacts. The coding elements can also be formed by corresponding recesses which can be detected with an optical sensor.
In this context, DE 10 2005 055 307 A1 describes a rotary actuator with an incremental rotational angle encoder for use in a motor vehicle. A coding element with periodic cutouts is attached to the shaft of the rotary actuator. Rotating the rotary actuator and the associated rotation of the coding element causes the cutouts to rotate through the detection range of the photoelectric barrier. This causes the analog output voltage of a photosensor to be modulated. An incremental rotational angle of the rotary actuator can be assigned to the profile of the analog output voltage by evaluation electronics.
DE 10 2006 060 808 A1 discloses an angle sensor for detecting the rotational angle of a component with a ring- or circular disk-like magnet. In the region of the magnetic field of the magnet, a Hall element is arranged by which a digital signal which is dependent on the rotational position of the magnet can be generated. In addition, an analog signal of a magneto-resistive sensor element can be assigned, as a function of the digital signal, to a first 180° angular range or to a second 180° angular range, following the first angular range, of a 360° angular range.
Furthermore, US 2012/0056761 A1 describes a rotatable input device for a motor vehicle. An optical or magnetic sensor can be used to detect the rotational angle of the input device.
In addition, US 2010/0057273 A1 discloses a control system for a motor vehicle. The control system has an operator control element which can be embodied as a rotary actuator or pushbutton actuator.
Finally, DE 10 2009 051730 A1 describes a multi-function operator control device of a motor vehicle with a rotary actuator. Arranged on the rotary actuator is at least one magnet which interacts in a contactless fashion with a Hall sensor. Furthermore, a rotational haptic element is provided with which individual latching stages for the rotary actuator are predefined.